1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in walking devices of the character which employ a mobile or displaceable frame to support a portion of the weight of a person and thereby facilitate the walking action of the person. The invention further relates to such improvements in walking devices of this character having a seat for permitting the user of the walking device to periodically rest.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many prior art devices have been proposed for assisting semi-invalid persons in the act of walking. Only a few of the prior art devices include a seat which would permit the user of the apparatus to rest when so desired. Of the devices employing seats, they were typically complex in structure, heavy in weight, and unnecessarily cumbersome.
For the semi-invalid person, particularly those of afflicted with arthritis or having suffered hip or knee injuries, the very act of moving from a full sitting to a standing position requires intense concentration and extreme effort. It was therefore a common experience of users of prior art devices which did employ seats that the rest afforded by the seat was offset by the exertion required to reassume a standing position ready to walk.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to construct a simple, lightweight walker of minimum outside dimensions, having a seat to permit the user of the apparatus to periodically rest. It is another object of the present invention to provide such a lightweight walker in which the user of the apparatus assumes only a semi-sitting position during any resting period, thereby minimizing the effort necessary to reassume the standing or walking position. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a walker supported on wheels which includes a breaking means manipulatable by the user of the apparatus to steady the walking device when necessary.